


Something Like You

by AlyKat



Series: Falling [1]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe -- Human, F/M, Gen, Originally Posted to Tumblr, bonfires and fireplaces, fall fic fest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-28
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-04-28 14:01:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5093405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyKat/pseuds/AlyKat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose hadn’t exactly been keen on the idea of going to a bonfire, especially at the house of a classmate she didn’t exactly know all that well, but Martha and Jack had both promised to be there, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all. Of course, not ten minutes after Rose had gotten to the party, Martha had disappeared with a few of her fellow pre-med classmates and Jack, well, last Rose had seen of Jack, he’d gone off with a blond girl on one arm, and a brunette male on the other.</p><p>Which left Rose on her own.<br/>At a party with next to no one she knew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My muse has not been behaving for my other fics I've been trying to work on, so, I thought I'd try giving my muse a jump start and do a "little" Tumblr fic. It's not so little and has taken on a mind of it's own. But, at least I got SOMETHING written! Here are the first three parts that I posted to Tumblr for the "Fall Fic Fest", under the prompt of "Bonfires and Fireplaces". The last (hopefully) two parts will be posted at the end of the week, doubling for Fall Fic Fest and Ficlet Friday...even though it won't really be a ficlet, per se...
> 
> At any rate, this is unbeta'd so I take full responsibility for anything that's wrong in here. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it, just the same.

Rose hadn’t exactly been keen on the idea of going to a bonfire, especially at the house of a classmate she didn’t exactly know all that well, but Martha and Jack had both promised to be there, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all. She could hang out with them all night, and Martha – at the very least – would be sure that Rose got home alright afterwards, so, there was that. Still, she didn’t even really  _know_ Donna Noble. The fiery red-head was older than her, ran in a different circle than her, and from what Rose had been told, was very nearly finished with her schooling. 

Of course, not ten minutes after Rose had gotten to the party, Martha had disappeared with a few of her fellow pre-med classmates: Rory Williams – shy, quiet, good looking in his own bashful sort of way; Joan Redfern – whom Rose had never met before tonight, but for some reason the girl seemed to have taken an instant dislike to Rose; and Owen Harper – awkward looking bloke, face sort of reminded Rose of a Jack-O-Lantern, didn’t really have much of anything nice to say, unless it was to voice his unwelcome opinion about her arse and chest. As for Jack, well, last Rose had seen of Jack, he’d gone off with a blond girl on one arm, and a brunette male on the other. Rose was fairly certain she wouldn’t see him again the rest of the night. 

Which left her on her own. 

At a party with next to no one she knew. 

Standing at the edge of the firelight, just knowing she looked as awkward and out of place as she felt (well, she probably did look the part, at least, if anyone even noticed her to begin with), Rose shifted from foot to foot and breathed deep. The bite of the smoke from the burning wood combined with the scent that was so inherently autumn as it filled her lungs, swirled through her and left her feeling just a bit dizzy. The longer she stood there alone, the more Rose started to believe getting talked into this party had just been a bad idea. 

The night air was crisp and cool, just enough of a chill to make Rose burrow into her hoodie a bit more and rub her sleeve across the tip of her nose. Music was blasting from stereo speakers on the far side of the lawn while a roaring bonfire danced and flickered against the darkness in the middle of everything. Rose honestly had always loved a good fire – not that she was one of those nutters who loved to set fire to rubbish bins or cat’s tails like what was on the Estate growing up, she just lived the warmth and smell of a fire. In a fireplace, mostly, but bonfires were okay too. When they weren’t at near perfect stranger’s houses. 

A clatter from the backdoor of the house broke through the air just then, laughter following hot on its heals as a tall, lanky figure quickly righted itself and stooped down to start picking up everything they’d dropped. Rose forgot her awkwardness, springing instead to lend a hand while everyone else just turned their backs and continued to enjoy themselves. 

“Here, lemme help,” murmured Rose, her voice soft and kind. She shot a glare back over her shoulder at the others before reaching to grab up a large thermos that had tried to make a break for the shrubs. 

“No, it’s alright. I’ve got it.” 

“You’ve got more than you can carry, just lemme help.”

“I said it’s fine.”

Rose clenched her jaw and finally lifted her head to give the stubborn git a piece of her mind, but stopped. Her eyes locked on the darkest brown eyes she had possibly ever seen, staring back at her from under sinfully gorgeous lashes and half-hidden by the thick, dark rimmed glasses that were perched on his nose. A slim, narrow nose, dusted with freckles that swept across his cheeks and skittered up his temples.  _Blimey,_  he was gorgeous, whoever he was. 

Eyes still locked on each other, Rose and Gorgeous Mr. Brown-Eyes slowly stood at the same time. The thermos still clutched in her hands, Rose wanted to say something, to introduce herself, to ask if he was okay, what was he doing with all that stuff, but the words just wouldn’t come out. She was struck by just how tall and lean the bloke was, a good half a foot taller than her, and his clothes hung off him so much that Rose wondered if he really wasn’t just a stick figure come to life. 

The breeze picked up then, catching the bloke’s shaggy, floppy brown hair and sending it flittering across his eyes. He cursed quietly, whipping off his glasses (tucking them safely away in his jean’s pocket), and rushed to push his hair back up out of his face. Rose couldn’t help it as her eyes followed the path of his long fingers and she wondered briefly if his hair was as soft and silky as it looked. The moment – whatever kind of moment it had been, or maybe been? Could have been? – was lost and Rose felt her cheeks flush as she looked away nervously just as Donna grabbed the bloke by the arm. 

“Oi, Spaceman, you alright?” she asked, casting a quick glance to Rose before turning back to him. 

Whoever he was – Rose was not going to mentally call him ‘Spaceman’, though Gorgeous Mr. Brown-Eyes wasn’t exactly a much better substitute name either – made a face as he pulled his arm away from Donna and made a grab for the blanket still laying on the ground. 

“I’m always alright. And don’t call me Spaceman. I hate it when you call me that.” 

Without another word, he turned, eyes cast down to the ground as he hurried away from Donna and Rose, leaving them both standing on the back patio dumbfounded. 

“John!” Donna called, taking two steps to follow him before stopping. She cursed quietly to herself and shook her head, her shoulders slumped in defeat. 

 _John_. Well, at least now Rose had a name to go with the face. A rather unremarkable name to go with an absolutely gorgeous face. Almost didn’t seem right. 

Donna turned suddenly with her hand out stretched, catching Rose by surprise. For a moment, all Rose could do was stand there and blink dumbly. At least until Donna rolled her eyes dramatically and motioned towards the thermos still tight in Rose’s grasp. “Gimme that thing. I’ll take it to him.”

Rose swallowed past the tightness in her throat as she shook her head and held the thermos maybe just a little bit closer to her chest. “No, s’alright. I got it.”

For a moment it seemed like Donna was going to object, to demand that Rose hand over the thermos so she could do it herself. Finally though, she huffed and rolled her eyes once more. “Fine. Stubborn. But don’t let him be rude to you. If he starts actin’ like a big dumbo, just flick his forehead and tell him where he can put that canister of his.” 

With a flip of her red hair, Donna turned her back to Rose and marched off to join the rest of her guests. Rose stood on the patio for a few seconds longer, silently wondering what she was going to do, or say, once she finally caught up to John. Of course, if she didn’t hurry, she wouldn’t be saying anything to him. He’d slipped into the tree line at the far edge of the Noble’s property, and with as dark as it was, it wouldn’t be long before he was completely out of sight. 


	2. Chapter 2

“John! John, wait!” 

A string of grumbled Gaelic curses tumbled off John’s lips as he stopped dead in his tracks and turned back towards the unfamiliar voice. He had half expected Donna to come chasing after him, again, but was surprised to find it was that girl from the patio instead. The one who hadn’t laughed at him and had actually tried to help, and he’d been kind of a prat towards. 

He flinched inwardly, but that didn’t stop him from grumbling again and starting  off the way he’d been heading again. Whoever the girl was, she could catch up if she was really that determined. John had only made it another handful of steps before he felt his sleeve get yanked, drawing him to a stop. 

“Hey,” the girl groused, stepping around in front of him with a frown tugging at her face. “I called for you to stop, why didn’t you?”

John sniffed and shrugged once. He tried for an air of nonchalance as he glanced off to the left, staring off into the darkness. “Did you? Didn’t hear you.”  

In front of him, the little blond seemed to bristle. 

“Like hell. I saw you turn around.” 

“I was just making sure I wasn’t being followed by some mask wearing, knife wielding psychopath,” he answered with another shrug.

“Yeah? And what did you decide?”

“Dunno. Could go either way, at this point–OW!” John’s eyes went wide, his sentence cut off as he quickly found himself on the receiving end of a fierce flick to the center of his forehead. “What’d you do that for!?”

“For being rude. Donna said if you started acting like a big dumbo then to flick your forehead, and tell you where you can put your canister.” 

The thermos that John had left behind in his hurry to get away from the snickering and stares of Donna’s party was suddenly shoved hard into the center of his chest. It knocked the breath out of him and he stared at her slack-jawed for a moment before finally taking hold of the canister. Donna was always telling people they could do that to him if he got rude, but no one ever had the guts to actually go through with it! 

John suddenly felt like a fish out of water with the way his mouth kept opening and closing. It wasn’t until the girl had the audacity to actually start to smile, a little grin that had the tip of her tongue poking out between two rows of perfectly white teeth, that John finally snapped his mouth shut, shoved past her, and continued on his way. “Right!” he called back, never once taking his eyes off the trail ahead of him, “Well you can go back and tell Donna, message received. Thank you for bringing me my thermos, and goodnight, whoever you are.”

“Rose.”

A tree root jumped up suddenly, grasping John’s foot and causing him to stumble for the second time in ten minutes. “What?”

The girl – Rose, apparently – was at his side in an instant. Her hand caught more of his sweatshirt than it did of his elbow, but the intent was clear, she was trying to make sure he didn’t land face first in the dirt. Once again, her smiling face came into view. “I said m’ name is Rose. Rose Tyler.”

Shifting the items in his arms to get a better grasp on everything, John finally gave a nod. “Right. Yes, good. Nice to meet you, Rose. If you’ll excuse me…” 

Rose stepped out of his way, but fell into step alongside him as he walked. A part of him wanted to tell her to shove off, go back to the party and get stupid with the rest of that lot, but there seemed to be something about her that didn’t quite fit in with everyone else that had been in the back yard. Whatever it was, so long as she didn’t natter on, John supposed it’d be alright for her to follow him. Not like he was going to be any more entertaining than the party though. 

They’d only made it maybe five steps before Rose started talking again. 

“So, where are you off to, anyway?” She asked, reaching out to take the thermos from him again before he could drop it, followed by the balled up blanket. Which left him with just his telescope and brown paper lunch sack filled with whatever goodies he could grab out of the kitchen unnoticed. 

John sighed and rolled his eyes skyward. “Does it matter?”

“No,” answered Rose, shrugging and burrowing herself down into her hoodie just a bit more. “Just curious where you were heading with all this stuff. How’s come you’re not at the party?”

A bark of laughter erupted out of John and he turned his head to look down at Rose as if she’d just dribbled down her shirt. “HA!”

“What?” she asked, brows scrunched together in confusion. “You don’t like parties or something?”

“Oh no, I love a good party. Regular ol’ party animal, me,” John answered, just a titch insincerely. 

“So, then what? Too good for that lot?”

Without sparing her a glance, John huffed under his breath and ducked to avoid hitting a low-hanging branch. “Why in the world would I want to hang out with that lot, hm? Nothin’ but a bunch of happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones.” He shook his head again and took two larger steps to get ahead of Rose and step out into the clearing first. Trusting her to just simply follow him. 

Which, a quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that she in fact did just that. In two seconds, Rose was at his side again, practically having to jog to keep up with his long-legged strides. “So that’s it then? You think you’re too good to hang out with them? Who even are you, anyway? You’re not exactly an appreciative guest, swannin’ off like this in a huff.”

John came to a complete stop, carefully setting his telescope down on the ground before making a grab for the blanket and thermos again. Right, he’d changed his mind. This Rose could go right on back to the party. He’d come out here to be alone and away from the noise anyway. Bending at the waist, John brought himself just about nose-to-nose with her and smirked. “Oh, you’re one to talk. And what exactly is it that you’re doing right now, Miss Tyler? Besides being an unappreciative guest and swanning off like you did. You’re the real guest at Donna’s party, not me.” 

That seemed to put an end to things, at least for the moment. His hair falling down into his eyes again, John swept it off to the side before turning his attention to setting up his small little observation site for the night. He had to get ready, after all. The partial lunar eclipse was going to be starting soon, and he didn’t want to miss it. Again. He had just gotten the blanket smoothed out and his thermos situated when Rose plopped herself down on one side and made herself just as comfortable as she pleased. 

“I wasn’t really invited to the party,” she admitted with a shrug. “My friends just sort of convinced me to come along, get out of my flat for a while. Aside from Jack and Martha, I don’t even really know anyone here. And those two split ages ago. So…” 

John was quite familiar with being ditched at parties. Though, if he were being honest, he was quickly becoming quite good at being the ditcher rather than the ditchee. Still, he knew all too well what it was like to be left on your own without knowing a single soul. 

Though he didn’t say a word, John didn’t send Rose packing either. Instead, he set up his telescope, made sure everything was just so, and dropped himself down onto the blanket beside her. He pulled two banana nut muffins from the paper bag and offered one out to Rose with a small smile of his own. 

“There’s a partial lunar eclipse tonight,” he finally explained once Rose had taken the muffin and thanked him. “I missed the last one that happened, I was sick. So, I didn’t want to miss it this time.” 

John paused as he took a large bite out of the top of the muffin and looked out across the mirror smooth water of the lake before them. The moon bright and reflecting off the surface, illuminating the sky and everything around them. It took a bit of work to get his bite down, but when he did, he shrugged and moved in for another. “Plus, I really can’t stand most of Donna’s friends, and frankly, they’re all a bunch of happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs.” 

Beside him, Rose burst into a fit of giggles, drawing John’s attention away from the water and back to her. He felt the start of a smile try to tug at the corners of his mouth, the first smile he’d have given in God only knew how long, and in just a matter of seconds he was fighting back chuckles of his own. He wasn’t really even sure why he was laughing, but he was. And it was good, it was  _very_ good. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taking a small bit of creative licensing here in regards to universities in the UK and their lack-there-of frats/frat parties. In my quick research (once I finally hit the right combo of words), I have learned there is in fact a frat from the US that is now in two universities in the UK. Given that one Jack Harkness is deemed American, and going to school in the UK, we’re going to believe that Jack is the reason this frat was integrated into the school. This serves as a greater plot point in the next part, but it is a passing mention at the end of this one, so, just wanted to toss that out there. The Delta Kappa Epsilon frat really does exist at two schools in the UK.

The tiny lakeside bonfire crackled at Rose’s feet, providing just enough warmth to keep the chill off, but remaining a small enough fire so as not to disrupt John’s telescope use. They had been sitting out on the rocky shore for an hour already, occasionally talking about nothing in particular, and every so often John going off on some little lecture about the stars above them. 

Her legs stretched out in front of her, Rose leaned back on her elbows and tilted her head up towards the stars. They were far enough outside the city to avoid light pollution, and the twinkling specks of burning gas above shone all the brighter. Far brighter than Rose had ever seen. The quite that had settled between her and John should have been uncomfortable and awkward, but it wasn’t. It was the opposite, in fact. For all of John’s animated explanations of supernovas and red supergiant stars and white dwarf stars, his quiet companionship at her side was just as nice. 

Still, Rose wished to know more about him. Why she had never seen him around campus before. Deciding to break their comfortable silence, she took a breath before, “So, you never answered my question before.” 

“Hm?” answered John distractedly. His face pressed to his telescope as the first signs of pink started to paint across the moon. 

“Who you are? I don’t even know your name, just John.”

John sat still and quiet for a long moment, and Rose wondered if he was even going to answer her or not. It was pretty stupid of her to be sitting out there, under the blanket of stars, with a bloke she’d only just met without knowing even the basic most thing about him. Other than he had a passion for stars and outer space. 

When it seemed obvious he wasn’t going to answer, Rose sighed and shook her head. She looked back up to the stars and was just getting ready to lay down fully when John finally answered her. 

“John…Noble.” 

His words were so quiet that Rose wasn’t even sure she’d really heard them. She pushed herself up fully, sitting cross-legged at his hip, and tilted her head curiously. “I’m sorry?”

John glanced at her briefly before looking back through his telescope. “You must know Donna better than you claim, if you’re apologizing for that.” 

Rose gave a half-laugh as she nudged into his shoulder playfully. “No, I said sorry ‘coz I wasn’t sure I understood you. John  _Noble_?”

“That’s what it says on my identification cards,” John mumbled back, already half distracted by the moon again. 

_John Noble_. Did that mean he was related to Donna? Martha – or more surprisingly, Jack – hadn’t mentioned Donna having a brother. Cousin then? Maybe? 

“So…you’re…what?” Rose asked, hedging the subject carefully. “Donna’s brother or something?” 

“Not as such.”

“Cousin?”

“Nope.” John popped the P and sighed as he finally sat back to look at Rose, his weight braced on his hands and shoulders up against his ears. 

Frowning, Rose rolled her eyes and dropped her elbows to her knees. “Well then, brother, right?”

John shrugged once. “I told you, not as such.”

“That doesn’t even make sense. How can you ‘not as such’ be her brother? Are you or aren’t you?” Frustration was rising in Rose’s veins. 

John let out his own huff of frustration as he shifted his weight to one hand and used the other to shove his floppy hair out of his eyes again. “By all legalities, yes. I suppose you could say I am her brother.” 

“Nobody’s ever mentioned you, though. Jack definitely would have said something if he’d known about you.” 

Shoving himself up onto his feet, John shook his head and gathered up their trash, tossing it into their small fire to burn up. His movements were sharp and precise, like he was only just holding back some kind of snarky remark or biting comment. Rose wondered what she’d done wrong, where she had overstepped a line in the sand she hadn’t realized had been drawn. She’d only asked a simple question, and followed it with a simple statement. No one had ever mentioned him before. 

Before Rose could apologize – or at least try to – her phone chimed through a half a dozen times or so. She frowned as she turned her attention down to her phone, sighing in aggravation at the string of text messages that suddenly decided to come through. 

_Text from Martha: Rose? Where are you?_

_Text from Martha: R U Ok?_

_Text from Martha: Rose, I’m serious. Where are you? Call me!_

_Text from Jack: Whoever you disappeared with, I hope he’s good! Let me know if I need to take a bat to his knees though._

_Text from Jack: Everything OK Rosie? Martha’s freaking out looking for you._

_Text from Martha: Please call me! No one’s seen you! Just let me know you’re ok!_

“Bloody hell…” grumbled Rose as she quickly shot off a joint message to them both, letting them know she was okay and that she’d be back up to the house soon. She looked up then, slipping her phone back into her pocket, and once again was met by John’s deep brown eyes.

Rose worried at her thumbnail for a bit, simply staring John down before dropping her hand to motion over her shoulder. “My…friends finally noticed I was gone,” she huffed a half self-depreciated laugh and shook her head, “about ready to send out a search party for me, so…I better be headin’ back.”

John’s lips pressed together in a tight thin line as he raised his eyebrows and nodded in agreement. “Of course. Right. Yes. Took ‘em long enough, but, suppose they’re not complete lost causes. I’ll uhm…” he floundered for a moment, right hand raised to motion to the house awkwardly before reaching back to rub the nape of his neck. “I’ll walk you back.”

“Oh, no. You don’t have to do that. I can–”

“It’s dark, there are branches and roots sticking up everywhere, and unless I’m mistaken, you have no idea where you’re going. Am I right?”

Glancing away, Rose gave a small shrug and nod before looking back to him. “Well, yeah, but…I thought you wanted to watch your eclipse.”

The pink that was crossing over the moon was darkening the further it got, the earth’s shadow falling over more and more of the barren satellite. John stole a quick glance at it before he shrugged, his own hands shoved into his pockets. “Partial eclipse,” John corrected absently. “Besides, there’s still time before it peaks. Enough time for me to make sure you make it back to the house without breaking your ankle, grab another banana nut muffin, and get back here in time to see it finish. Molto bene.” 

Rose fought back the urge to smile. John really could be quite rude, like Donna had sort of warned her about, but it was obvious he could be a gentleman too, when he wanted to be. Not only that, but there was just something about him, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. 

Without saying a word to each other, they both turned to start back into the woods. Rose stuck close to John’s side, going so far as to take his hand to keep from getting separated in the dark. Of course, it also served to reassure herself that should she trip over a branch or a root, then either she could catch herself on John’s arm, or pull him down with her. Whichever happened.

The walk back was quiet save for the usual sounds of the night dwellers that called the woods their home. It wasn’t until the flickering glow of the diminishing bonfire in the Noble’s backyard began to come into sight that the quiet was broken by the sound of blasting music still screaming out of the stereo speakers. As one, the pair stopped just at the edge of the tree line. Rose could just make out Martha and Jack standing on the patio, checking their phones and looking up to glance around the party once more. 

So, this was it. John had walked her safe and sound back to the party, and now it was time for them to go their separate ways. Reluctantly, Rose dropped her hand from John’s, but turned to face him before she could be pulled away by her friends. She’d really only meant to tell him thanks, and that she hoped he had a good rest of the night, what came out instead, however, was completely different. 

“Uhm, look. My friend Jack, his…well…the organization he’s a part of at school, Delta Kappa…something or other,” she paused to wave her hand in front of her face, cutting herself off before she could start to ramble nervously, “doesn’t matter. They’re goin’ to be holding a Halloween costume party end of the month. Do you…I mean…would you maybe…that is, you could come to it, if you’d like.” 

John blinked a few times, his jaw slightly slack as he stammered for something to say. Rose felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment. Without giving him a chance to answer, Rose quickly shook her head and glanced away. “Sorry, that was…I don’t know why I said that. You–”

“I won’t be here end of the month,” John finally interrupted.

Rose’s jaw snapped shut with an audible click of her teeth as she met his eyes again, her shoulders sagging just a bit. “Oh…right…”

“I’m only here on a short holiday. I leave to head back to Edinburgh tomorrow night. Won’t be back until Christmas.” They both fell quiet after that. Reaching up to tug on his ear a bit, he added, “Were you planning on going?”

Rose shrugged and glanced away again, just in time to see Martha and Jack start for them. “Dunno. Had thought about it. Maybe.” She shrugged again before quickly looking back to John, trying hard to push down her disappointment. “It was nice to meet you, John Noble.” Leaning in and up on her toes, she pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek before turning and hurrying off towards her friends, only just barely glancing over her shoulder to call back, “Thanks for letting me star watch with you! Enjoy your eclipse!” 

Bouncing up to her friends, Rose stood tall under their scrutinizing gazes and didn’t for one minute let herself even think about blushing or looking away. Not even when Jack began hounding her for details, or when Martha demanded to know who “that bloke” was that she was with. Not that any of that should matter to them, after all, they were the ones who abandoned her at the party. 

With one last glance past the bonfire, Rose felt a small smile spread across her face as John’s back disappeared into the darkness of the trees once more. Maybe she could find Donna on campus one of these days and have Donna give him her phone number for her. Just to chat, maybe. 

Still watching the fire dance, Rose shook her head as her friends continued to rail her. “That was John,” She finally answered quietly. “He’s a friend. Just a friend.”


End file.
